Category Archives: Economy

Contact: Josh Wronski Executive Director, Vermont Progressive Party (802) 229-0800 Montpelier, VT – Some Progressives are questioning Governor Phil Scott’s executive order combining the Departments of Labor and Commerce. “Efficiency in government and consolidating departments and agencies makes sense when they have overlapping missions,” said Progressive Party Chair…

Emma Mulvaney-Stanak
State Chair, Vermont Progressive Party
Former Burlington City Councilor

On January 12th, Mayor Weinberger addressed the Burlington City Democratic Caucus and took direct aim at the Progressive Party. He toggled between praising current Progressive City Councilors for their collaborative nature and then harshly labeling local Progressives as divisive, reactionary and fringe. The Mayor also declared Progressives as anti-environment and anti-worker, among many other distorted labels. He went on to claim Democratic credit for recent pro-environment and pro-worker efforts in the city, yet neglected to note that virtually all of these efforts were started by Progressives. Progressives initiated Burlington’s move towards 100% renewable energy sourcing by positioning the Burlington Electric Department to purchase the Winooski hydro plant and by creating the McNeil plant. It was Progressives who pushed recent pro-worker efforts such as supporting the Howard Center workers and maintaining livable wage standards for contractors/businesses at the airport while the Mayor opposed both measures. Clearly, the Mayor’s critique of the Progressive Party is misplaced and his efforts to give the bulk of the credit to Democrats for Burlington’s successes ignores the efforts of 30 years of Progressive leadership in Burlington.

The Mayor was exactly what he criticized local Progressives to be – reactionary. Many residents recently organized and opposed a major development project at the downtown mall and two related ballot initiatives in November. The Mayor chose to label these residents and anyone who agreed with them “fringe and reactionary.” What the Mayor sees and labels as “fringe” opinions is democracy in action. These residents represent the underrepresented voices and neighborhoods in the city. The Mayor should embrace differences of opinion and find ways to convene underrepresented residents, not push them away. For Burlington to be a stronger, better community, everyone in Burlington should feel welcomed and encouraged to participate in matters that impact our community.

More importantly, attacking the local Progressive Party and labeling the Party as fringe based on recent city council endorsements represents the Mayor’s poor knowledge of who our 2017 council candidates are and why they are running for local office. While any council candidate should have formed an opinion of the high profile recent development projects, labeling someone who disagrees with the Mayor fringe or reactionary is out of line. The 2017 Progressive endorsed candidates include: City Council President Jane Knodell, a champion of those exact development projects as well as many neighborhood revitalization projects, Charles Winkleman, an early educator and dedicated activist looking to address affordability issues for young people in Burlington, and Charles Simpson, an academic and champion of public transportation and strengthening neighborhood communities.

While Winkleman and Simpson disagreed with aspects of the mall development project, they do not deserve such reactionary labeling by our Mayor. These candidates are running on more than one single issue. Moreover, there are various opinions on the development project within the Progressive Party. Disagreement and discourse is healthy in a democracy within a city and within a Party. It is the job of elected leaders to take the high road and be defenders of good process and stronger communities. Elected leaders should also expect to be criticized and challenged. It comes with the territory. It is the job of leaders to go high in these moments. The Mayor went low.

This is a press release from the Burlington Progressive Committee. CONTACT: Charles Winkleman, 802-448-0183, BTVProgressiveParty@gmail.com BURLINGTON – Today the Burlington Progressive Party announced its opposition to the current Burlington Town Center proposal and proposed zoning changes. Progressives understand that although the project would bring some benefits in additional housing and…

Read the whole story from the front page of the Barre Montpelier Times Argus (Feb 9, 2016). By Josh O’Gorman VERMONT PRESS BUREAU MONTPELIER — A Washington County senator has a plan to reform the state’s property tax system that he says would result in a tax break for…

May 15, 2014; John de Graaf; Truthout Vermont and Bhutan have embraced happiness rather than GDP as a measure of social success. The world’s happiest countries share surprising characteristics – a small gap between rich and poor; work-life balance; urban design favoring community over cars; high degrees of interpersonal trust;…

On Monday, March 17th, three Progressive City Councilors and Progressive Councilor-Elect Selene Colburn issued the following open letter to CCTA management in support of the bus drivers’ strike. We, the undersigned members of Burlington’s City Council, are writing in solidarity with the Chittenden County Transportation Association’s organized bus drivers and…

Dear Bill, As a member of the Vermont General Assembly and a Co-Chair of the Legislative Working Vermonters Caucus I am naturally concerned with the welfare of our communities. Like me, I am sure you recognize that Vermont’s hardworking families are our greatest economic assets. I also recognize that good…

Vermont’s state motto is “Freedom and Unity” for a reason. While we revere our independence, we’re still a very community-oriented state and need to rely on each other. Vermont small businesses are no different. There is often a close relationship between business owners and employees. In the event of a…

February 8, 2014; 1:00 pm, North End Studios, Burlington In attendance: Approximately 60 people attended, with another several guest speakers. Welcome: Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Emma opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending. She offered up an instant poll for State Committee members to answer a survey question on paper or…

We began taking testimony regarding the budget adjustment for emergency housing last week. As the Department of Children and Families works to create better longterm solutions to the problem of increasing homelessness, the need for money for the state’s cold weather policy — to keep individuals and families from freezing…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that around 40 percent of people in the United States are forced to work when they or a family member are ill. If they must stay home, they risk losing pay or their jobs because they have no provision for any amount of sick…

November 9, 2013; 1:00 pm, Capital City Grange, Berlin In attendance: 125 people Welcome: Martha Abbott Martha started the meeting at 1:15pm and thanked the VT State Employees Association for sponsoring the lunch, Elizabeth Skarie for ice cream, Tina Scanlon for organizing the raffle, the current CoCo members and Robert…

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